Tang Xiaoxian: A painting of a lady in the snow mat, inscribed by Chen Mo

Tang Xiaoxian: A painting of a lady in the snow mat, inscribed by Chen Mo. It has been nearly forty years since the end of the ten-year catastrophe of the Cultural Revolution. The family's collection of famous people's paintings and calligraphy, precious antiques, literature...

The ten-year catastrophe of the Cultural Revolution ended nearly 40 years ago. The family's collection of paintings and calligraphy by famous people and precious antiques have long been gone, as the Red Guards repeatedly 'destroyed the Four Olds' and ransacked their homes during the Cultural Revolution. Not long ago, among the debris left over from the disaster, an unmounted Chinese painting was discovered, which was inscribed as a gift to my late uncle, Mr. Tang Wenming. So after having someone carefully frame it, a picture of a lady inscribed by Chen Mo and painted by Xue Fu came to mind. In the year of Gui Ji (1943), the person who inscribed the painting was Chen Mo, a modern Chinese painter. Chen Mo (1886-1945), also known as Jiayu, also known as Jialantao, was born in Changshu, Jiangsu Province. He was a disciple of Lu Hui, a famous painter in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China, and acquired his brushwork. He could freely express landscapes, flowers, feathers, fruits and vegetables, and his paintings of flowers and birds were famous for a while. Chen Mo used his pen to capture Wu Changshuo's seal writing style and Zhao Bei'an's hooking method. The full text of Chen Mo's inscription is as follows: This frame is the work of Mr. Xue Fu in his prime years. The pen and ink are elegant and graceful, and it can really wash away the worldly world. Mr. Zhaozhen showed it, and it was titled Shu Shushu Yuan. Guiji Jiuqiu covers Chen Mowei. Mr. Wen Ming remembered

this painting of a lady in Xue Fu. It depicts a lady with a high bun, long sleeves covering her hands, sitting on a stone drum stool, next to a wintersweet tree, with a courtyard in the background. The lady is wearing red clothes, her right hand is lowered, and her left hand is raised to the level of her eyebrows. She has a delicate face, a slender body, a calm demeanor, and a neatly outlined head, making her look like a daughter of a famous family. The face is smooth and round, while the clothes are drawn with a floating and square stroke. The color is light and elegant, and the character's hair is tied in a bland blue. The red clothes are paired with a light blue collar, which echoes the hair tie. The vermilion top and plain skirt complement each other, making the person in the painting look even more beautiful and lovely. This painting of a lady is truly a rare masterpiece of its kind.

(Author's email: wm-tang@hotmail.com) William Tang Tang Xiaoxian wm-tang@hotmail.com